Australian Weekly Market Report

Published September 14, 2018 by Tim Marwedel

General Market Summary

The market remained fairly stable this week. Prices are traditionally a little softer through this period of the season with auction volumes usually starting to increase. However, despite the high price levels, demand was sufficient to maintain prices for another week around about similar levels. Of particular interest to us and many of our weaver clients, is the almost daily occurrence of strong interest in the better style and specification 16.0 to 18.5-micron fleece wool. They remain extremely well supported while other more average descriptions move with a little more regularity as expected when considering the high levels of price. The only movement the better fine micron fleece types are making at the moment is slowly upwards.

Forecast

We see little reason for much change in the overall market sentiment. Auction quantities are not increasing as would be expected and there seems sufficient daily competition to limit any significant downward movement in any single day. The auction system is supporting the grower interests extremely well. With strong buyer demand to source quality raw materials and the limited supply restricted to the two-day sales in each market, buyers must buy regularly to secure what they need while trying not to force prices further. This is limiting any daily movement, particularly on the downside.